This week in Louisville: the Mid-America Trucking Show

By Land Line staff | Tuesday, March 24, 2015

The trucking industry will converge on Louisville Thursday through Saturday, March 26-28, for the biggest trade event of the year, the Mid-America Trucking Show. Approximately 78,000 attendees from all 50 states and 78 countries are expected to show.

More than 1,000 exhibitors from 43 states and 10 countries will be featuring products, news, information and more in 1.2 million square feet of exhibit space.

OOIDA will have several booths onsite in the same locations as last year, including Booth 11128 in the North Wing, Booth 65229 in the West Wing, and Booth 40460 in the North Wing Lobby. Jon Osburn and “The Spirit” tour truck will be settled in at the Papa John’s Cardinal Stadium lot where more festivities are planned by truckers.

One of the big attractions will be the Paul K. Young Truck Beauty Championship. Featuring a new dump class, around 90 trucks will compete for awards. Competing trucks will be showing off all their beauty in Lot “J” behind the West Wing.

Attendees can also soak in some knowledge and insight at a variety of seminars. Throughout the show, seminars will be held in the South Wing Conference Center Room B-104 of the Kentucky Expo Center. Presenters include Chevron Delo, Kinedyne, Trucking Moves America Forward and the California Air Resources Board. Seminars are free and do not require any registration.

Mobil Delvac, known for its heavy-duty engine oil, will present a concert on Friday, March 27 for MATS attendees featuring the Marshall Tucker Band and kicking off with Chris Hennessee. It will be held on-site in Freedom Hall following the Friday edition of the show.

Land Line staff will be on the ground, blogging about it all in the award-winning “The Pork Chop Diaries” blog. Throughout the week Land Line’s editorial staff will be covering the show and reporting to you online. Those who are not attending can get the latest news, photos, insights and more. If you are attending the show, you may find the blog useful as a guide on where to be and what to look for from unpredictable bloggers like Managing Editor Jami Jones, Senior Editor Dave Tanner, Editor-at-Large John Bendel, Field Editor Suzanne Stempinski, Staff Writer Greg Grisolano, and Senior Technical Editor Paul Abelson.

Catch a daily dose of radio news, interviews and action from the show floor on “Land Line Now,” OOIDA’s show on Sirius XM, which airs 7 to 8 p.m. and again from 11 p.m. to midnight Eastern time on the Road Dog Channel 146. Host Mark Reddig and Senior Sound Engineer/Producer Barry “Iceman” Spillman will be in the North Wing lobby, Booth 40460.